Spooling attachment for sewing machines



Oct. 26, 1954 E. SEAMAN 2,692,733

SPOOLING ATTACHMENT F OR SEWING MACHINES Filed Jan. 51, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. [pa 4,001. SEAMAN A TTORIVEYS Oct. 26, 1954 E. L. SEAMAN 2,692,733

SPOOLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Jan. 51, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. [OW/9RD LSEAMAN Patented Oct. 26, 1954 SPOOLIVNG ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Edward L. Seaman, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to S. & W; Sewing Machine Attachment 00., New York,.N. Y., a partnership Application January 31, 1951, Serial No. 208.780

1 Claim,

This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to a spooling or reeling attachment, adapted to be driven by a sewing machine, for winding on spools strip materials which are continuously produced by a machine in long lengths.

As is well known, various forms of trimmings, bindings and the like may be and are commercially produced on sewing machines operating more or less continuously and at the present time it is the practice to collect such materials in baskets as they are delivered from the machines, which necessitates their being subsequently placed on spools by hand. The spooled materials are subsequently used in connection with further operations on other machines at which time the material is unwound from the spools as needed.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an automatic spooling attachment which serves to wind the continuously produced materials on spools as they are made without requiring the attention of an operator except for the necessary replacement of full spools with empty ones.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an attachment which is driven directly from the sewing machine.

A further object is to provide a spooling device which is adapted to receive spools of different lengths and having feeding means which is adjustable for use with such different spools.

The invention will best be. understood from the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a sewing machine and spooling attachment mounted on the usual machine table;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation as seen from the left of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation partly in section of one form of friction drive means for rotating the spool having spring-pressed balls engaging perforations;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of another form of friction drive means having a rubber friction ring;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3 showing the face of the flanged end of the spool holder;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the guidecarrying block, traversing screw and related parts, taken on the line- 6-6 of Fig. 1; and- Fig. 7 is an elevation of the pivoted screwf ollower which is carried by the block shown in Fig. 6 as seen from the right at that figure.

The attachment comprises two. main groups of element which are mounted in a common supporting frame and which have common driving means. The first group is the spool-holding mechanism and the second group is the materialguiding mechanism. These groups will be separately described but reference will first be made to the supporting structure and driving connection.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is provided a main frame Ill in the form of a casting, generally U-shapeol with its open side toward the head of the sewing machine. This frame is supported on a pedestal consisting of the base i l and vertical rod l2. This pedestal may be secured to the machine table M by screws l5.

The sewing machine is of the usual type having a head l5, reciprocating needle bar l8 and presser foot I9 beneath which are the usual feed dogs (not shown) which propel the stitched material rearwardly of the machine. The machine has the usual main shaft provided with a hand wheel 2| and drive pulley 22 through which the machine. is driven by a belt 24. Fixed to the end of the main shaft is a small drive pulley 25 which suppliesthe power for the spooling attachment.

At its right-hand side the frame H]; is provided with a drilled boss 26 in which is rotatably mounted the drive shaft 28 which carries on its outer end a pulley 29 which is operatively connected with the pulley 25 by a belt 30 or the like. The inner end of shaft 23 carries a gear 3| which is the first of a train of reduction gears including the gear cluster 32 and the gear 34,. the latter being attached to the end of a stub shaft which is rotatably mounted in the frame It. The gear cluster 32 is rotatably mounted on a suitable bearing likewise attached to the frame. The particular form of gearing is not important and the gears 31 and 32 may be replaced, with suitable modification of the shape of the frame, by a single large gear for driving the gear 34 so that the desired speed reduction is obtained. A certain amount of speed reduction is also obtained by making the pulley .29 larger than the pulley 25 and all of the reduction might be obtained, if desired, by the selection of suitably sized pulleys.

Spool-holding and driving mechanism The spools customarily used for materials of the type described are-made of cardboard and each spool consists of a pair of circular ends. attached. to a central hollow eylindricalcore. In, Fig. '1 the core is shown at 3B and the ends at 31 and 38. Such spools are available in different lengths and the spool-holding mechanism is so designed that spools of various lengths may be utilized.

Referring to Figs. 1, 3 and 5, there is provided a flanged tube which is adapted to fit snugly into the core of a spool with sufllcient friction to prevent rotation of the spool on the tube. The tube is shown at 40, a large circular flange or plate 4| being attached to the tube flush with its end. Tube is no longer than the core of the shortest spool which is to be used so that, as shown in Fig. 1, the end 40a of the tube may not reach the end of the spool. Fixed on shaft 35 is a grooved wheel 42. Fixed in recesses in the face of wheel 42 are two short tubes 44 which are disposed on a diameter of the wheel. Attached to the outer ends of these tubes is a flat plate 45 containing perforations in alignment with the bores of the tubes 44. Mounted in the latter are springs 46 and balls 41, the perforations in plate 45 being of such size as to retain the balls in the tubes while permitting them to extend slightly beyond the outer face of plate 45. As shown in Fig. 5, the flange or plate 4| is provided with pairs of diametrically disposed perforations 49 capable of being aligned with the balls 4i. Plate 45 is concentrically mounted on a shouldered bushing 50 which fits on shaft 35 and has an outer end of such diameter as to have a slip fit with the inside of the tube 40.

It will be seen that when the tube 4|] is inserted in the core of a spool its flange 4| lies against the outside face of the end 38 of the spool and this assembly may be centered on the bushing 50 with the plates 4| and 45 in contact. This assembly provides a friction drive since relative rotation between the plates 4| and 45 will cause the balls 41 to engage with the perforations 49 so that continued rotation will move the spool. However, the friction is sufficiently slight so that a moderate force tending to hold the spool still will result in disengagement of the balls 41 from the perforations 49 permitting the plates 4| and 45 to slip on each other. This keeps a gentle tension on the goods being Wound on the spool.

To support the other end of the spool and to urge the flange 4| against the plate 45 there is provided, at the left side of frame H] as shown in Fig. l, a spindle 5| slidably mounted in a boss 52 forming part of the frame. This spindle is provided at its inner end with a conical plug 54 which engages in the end of the core 36 of the spool. On spindle 5| is a fixed collar 55. Surrounding the spindle 5| between the collar 55 and the boss 52 is a coil spring 56 which provides a means for resiliently urging the spindle into engagement with the spool and the relatively movable parts of the friction drive into engagement with each other. For retracting the spindie, it is provided at its outer end with a knob 58.

M ateriaZ-gmdz'ng mechanism To guide the material delivered from the sewing machine longitudinally of the spool so that it is wound evenly thereon, a double-threaded traversing screw 54 is rotatably mounted in the frame In parallel to the axis of the spool. At one end, in alignment with the grooved wheel 42, screw 50 has fixed on it a smaller grooved wheel 52 and a driving connection is effected between these two wheels by the belt 64. Slidably mounted on screw 60 is a block from which a guide 56 is supported on a bracket 61. To prevent rotation of the block on the screw there is attached to the frame ID a fixed rod 68 which passes freely through a hole in block 55 as shown in Fig. 6. Vertically mounted in the top of block 55 is the screw follower shown in Fig. 7 which consists of the shaft 59, bearing portion 74 and screw-engaging tongue Block 55 is provided with a bore in alignment with the screw axis in which the bearing portion 10 is seated. This member is held in the block by a plate 12 and screw 14. The double crossed thread on the traversing screw is so formed that when the block reaches the right-hand end thereof as viewed in Fig. l, the tongue H is turned automatically so as to cause the block to move in the opposite direction as the screw rotates. It is desired, however, to vary the extent of traverse of the block on the screw in the other direction in accordance with the width of the spool being used which requires turning of the screw follower at intermediate portions of its travel on the screw. To accomplish this, an adjustable stop 15 is mounted on frame M by a screw 16 and the top of the shaft 69 of the screw follower is provided with a flexible arm in the form of a leaf spring 78 adapted to engage the stop. Such engagement rotates the screw follower in block 65 so that the tongue crosses from one thread to the other, changing the direction of travel of the block. Leaf spring 18 is capable of yielding to permit some continued movement of block 55 after the spring engages stop 15 to accommodate the situation where the tongue H has not quite reached a point on the screw 60 Where it can cross over from one thread to the other, thus reversing the travel of the block. Obviously, a rigid member may be substituted for leaf spring l8 if stop i5 is in the form of a spring or otherwise yieldable.

Referring to Fig. 4, a modified form of friction drive is'shown in which a grooved wheel 42a is substituted for the wheel 42 shown in Fig. 3. Wheel 42a is provided in its face with a circular groove 80 concentric with shaft 35 in which groove there is secured an annular ring 8| of rubber or other frictional material which bears against the flange 4| of tube 40, the rubber providing the necessary friction for rotating the spool. The friction drives of Figs. 3 and 4 are adapted for use with cardboard spools. However, if spools of rigid material of sufficient strength are used, the tube 40 and flange 4| may be omitted and a friction drive such as that of Fig. i made to bear directly on the end of the spool.

When a spool is placed in the device it is obviously necessary to rotate the empty spool at a more rapid rate than when the spool is nearly full because the circumference of the material wound on a nearly empty spool is smaller than the circumference of the material on a partly filled spool. The friction driving member therefore rotates at a speed sufficient to wind the material tightly on an empty spool and, as the spool fills up, more and more slipping occurs between the elements of the friction driving member. The pressure is of course so adjusted as to provide a relatively light driving force on the spool only sufficient to effect proper winding without binding. This adjustment may be made by the selection of a spring 55 of proper size and the positioning of the collar 55.

Being driven from the machine, it is of course evident that the reeling device operates only when the machine is operating and the device has the further advantage that no separate source of power is required.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is merely for the purpose of illustration and that the invention is not to be limited thereto but is to be construed broadly within the purview of the claim.

What is claimed is:

In a reeling device for use with materialreceiving spools of difiering lengths and having means for supporting and rotating a spool, adjustable traversing means to direct material onto the said spool as it rotates comprising: a doublethreaded traversing screw, means for supporting the screw parallel to the spool axis and. rotating it with the spool. a block slidably mounted on the screw and movable to and fro thereon as the screw rotates, a fixed member extending parallel to said screw, said block having sliding engagement with two opposite surfaces of said member whereby rotation of said block is wholly prevented, a guide for the material being spooled carried by said block, a screw-follower rotatably mounted in said block and having a tongue engaging the threads of said screw, a resilient arm afiixed directly to said follower and extending outwardly therefrom at an angle to its axis of rotation and to one side of the axis of said screw, a stop positioned in the path traversed by said resilient arm and adjustable in position along said path according to the length of the spool being wound, whereby when said arm engages said stop said follower is rotated to reverse the direction of travel of said block, said arm flexing upon engagement with the stop until said follower reaches a point on the screw where it is free to rotate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 465,282 Miller Dec. 15, 1891 942,8 3 Denn Dec. '7, 1909 9915, 615 Huneke July 25, 1911 1,164,740 Meyers Dec. 21, 1915 1,616,068 Trenck Feb. 1, 1927 1,867,596 Roseman July 19, 1932 

